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Carbon-Neutral Office Space?

This virtually self sustaining office building is now built! At the edge of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, the Bullitt Center as of April 2013, has two thirds of the space already leased.

It's beyond simply being "green". All its water will be supplied by rainwater collected in a 56,000 gallon cistern. They have composting toilets, a grand staircase with a view to discourage elevator use, and rooftop photovoltaics ready to produce 230,000 kilowatt hours a year, hopefully enough to break even with the energy use of the building.

The goal is to prove that carbon-neutral office space can be commercially viable. And they encourage copycats!

From the website www.bullittcenter.org:

"The goal of the Bullitt Center is to change the way buildings are designed, built and operated to improve long-term environmental performance and promote broader implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy and other green building technologies in the Northwest.

The building is seeking to meet the ambitious goals of the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most strenuous benchmark for sustainability.

For example, a solar array will generate as much electricity as the building uses and rain will supply as much water, with all wastewater treated onsite.

By creating a place where every worker has access to fresh air and daylight, the Bullitt Center will create a healthy, human environment that is more pleasant and more productive than most commercial buildings."